The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
The complementary nature of broadcast and broadband IP networks has opened the door to a hybrid delivery model in which the strengths of each network are leveraged to provide personalized TV services. Such a delivery model is already being exploited by a number of actors in the TV landscape. The manufacturers of consumer equipments are providing “Connected TVs” incorporating broadband access to catch-up TV, enhanced program guides and Internet video.
Initiatives such as HbbTV (Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV) and YouView have brought together broadcasters, content providers and Internet service providers seeking to define a standardized approach to the provision of hybrid broadcast broadband services. Whilst the first HbbTV services were launched as long ago as December 2009, current hybrid TV service deployments do not yet exploit the full potential of the Internet for the delivery of media content and there remains significant potential for further innovation.
By using broadcast delivery for mass distribution of popular programs and broadband delivery for long tail and on demand content, a combined delivery model is well adapted for providing personalized value-added TV services to large numbers of subscribers.
Companion terminals, such as tablets or smartphones, are becoming well established as “TV buddies” for the consumption of personalized content linked to TV broadcasts.
In the article of C. Howson et al. “Second Screen TV Synchronization”, 2011 IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics, second screen use cases are envisaged, in which an alternative audio or video content, linked to broadcast programs, is carried over broadband, thereby enabling personalization and alleviating the burden on broadcast network bandwidth.
One example of such a service offers the user the possibility of selecting his preferred audio soundtrack on a handheld device, to accompany the broadcast video, displayed on a TV set. The main audio and video components are delivered over a broadcast network, whilst several other languages are available on-demand over the Internet.
Another such service would enable a user to select a broadband delivered alternative view of a sporting or music event and render this on his tablet, in conjunction with the broadcast content displayed on a TV set.
If the user experience of such second screen services is to be acceptable, then the media components, delivered separately over broadband and broadcast networks, need to be rendered with accurate synchronization.
Whilst existing hybrid TV services do employ trigger mechanisms for interactive applications, they do not incorporate techniques that would allow, for example, an alternative soundtrack delivered over the Internet to be automatically and accurately synchronized with a broadcast video component.
The above cited paper proposes a system, for the deployment of second screen personalized TV services, which enables the rendering of content components, delivered independently over broadband and broadcast networks, to be synchronized in user devices. The solution disclosed in this paper is based on the addition of an auxiliary component timeline associated with each group of media components delivered over the broadcast network and, in some cases, also over the broadband network. This timeline component conveys synchronization information related to each event and is used to align the presentation of the media components.
However, the solution disclosed in the above paper is not a direct solution since it requires a signature, i.e. the timeline component, to be embedded into the original media content.